The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has removed the age cap on buying health insurance policies, effective from April 1, 2024. Earlier, individuals were restricted to purchasing new insurance policies only until the age of 65. However, after the recent changes that have come into effect from April 01, 2024, anyone, regardless of age, is eligible to purchase a new health insurance.
In the Union Budget for Financial Year 2023-24 (FY24), Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had held forth on the need for better governance and investor protection in the banking sector. She had proposed certain amendments to the Reserve Bank of India Act (RBI Act), 1934; the Banking Regulation Act (BR Act), 1949; and the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970.
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Milind Vadjikar your insurance, stocks, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
The implementation of this toll collection system, which will eventually eradicate toll booths, necessitates the fitting of an on-board unit (OBU) in every vehicle that can track a vehicle's location in real time.
'Splitting must result in tangible benefits for the customer, otherwise it will only mean more work for them in maintaining the policy and for their nominees.'
From April 1, when we buy insurance for a car or take out a health cover, insurance companies can offer a product totally customised for us.
'In life insurance, it is about creating distribution capacity and solutions for customers. We are constantly working on that.'
In its master circular on general insurance products, which takes immediate effect, Irdai specified, 'The customer may be required to submit only those documents directly related to claim settlement.'
'Because it is the only public sector company in this sector, currently.'
The new regulations will allow the insurers to charge an extra premium from policyholders who wish to buy riders with unit-linked insurance plans.
Consider a combination of a base policy and a super top-up policy.
Customers frequently sign without reading the terms and conditions, resulting in a poor understanding of coverage, and eventually leading to partial payouts
The government is likely to introduce a bill seeking amendments to the Insurance Act, 1938, during the upcoming Budget session to achieve 'Insurance for All by 2047'. Some of the provisions, which could be part of the amendment bill, include composite license, differential capital, reduction in solvency norms, issuing captive license, change in investment regulations, one-time registration for intermediaries and allowing insurers to distribute other financial products, sources said.
'I am very happy to see that the work is starting to bear some fruit now.'
Health insurance policy-holders will be able to avail a discount on the premium payable if there were no claims made in the previous year, according to the circular released by the regulator.
'If you are investing in a Ulip for returns, go for a type I Ulip.' 'If you are investing for insurance cover as well, type II is better.'
A crucial point anyone purchasing health insurance must heed is the need to declare PEDs.
Numbers could be classified further into (140) marketing and (160 or 161) for service calls to easily identify the purpose of the call in the future.
The Hinduja group is learnt to be looking at alternative means of financing, including private credit, to fund its Rs 9,661 crore all-cash offer to acquire Reliance Capital. The regulator, Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority of India (Irdai), had earlier rejected the collateral offered by the group to raise funds. The Hinduja group was in talks with Barclays, JPMorgan, Cerberus Capital Management and Apollo Global Management to raise up to $850 million.
Younger people, who usually have a longer investment horizon which allows them to handle the interim volatility, may go for them.
Apollo Hospitals Enterprise (APH) delivered an in-line performance for the April-June quarter of the financial year 2024-2025 (Q1FY25)with growth in the number of patients. AHLL (Apollo Health & Lifestyle), a subsidiary, posted sales growth and profitability. APH also reduced operational costs at Healthco.
There are a number of steps taken that will leave more money in the hands of the taxpayers.
These include the reduction in tax rates under the new tax regime, increase in standard deduction, allowing tax collected at source to be adjusted against tax deducted at source from salaries, notes Harsh Roongta.
If the cashless request is denied, the entire cost may need to be paid for planned treatments.
The total benefits paid by private life insurance companies to policyholders rose by 5.98 per cent to Rs 1.57 trillion during 2022-23. This figure stood at Rs 1.49 trillion in the corresponding year-ago period. On the other hand, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) paid out 4 per cent fewer benefits at Rs 3.39 trillion from Rs 3.53 trillion in 2021-22.
Purchase health insurance at an early age, before you incur a disease, as this makes access to health insurance difficult and raises the premium significantly.
The overall physical presence of life insurance companies in Tier-II and Tier-III cities increased in FY23 compared to a year ago period on account of the higher impetus given to financial inclusion by the government and insurance regulator, as well as recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the latest data released by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai). It is the first time that there has been growth in the number of offices since the financial year 2019-20.
'Currently, our individual first premium would be in the Rs 3,000-Rs 3,200 crore range. We want to take that to about Rs 6,000 crore in three years.'
'Private General insurers are poised to grow at 17 per cent - 18 per cent over the next 5 to 7 years and we will grow faster.'
Avoid relying on a bank RM for investment advice. Instead, approach a Sebi-registered investment advisor whose livelihood depends on the fee paid by his customers and not on product commissions.
The unclaimed funds within the life insurance sector are higher from policies sold by agents as against other channels like bancassurance or a digital platform, said analysts and officials from insurance companies. Unclaimed life insurance funds refer to the proceeds of insurance policies including death or survival benefits not claimed by the beneficiary or the policyholder. Bancassurance means selling an insurance product through banks.
In numerous instances, family members are unaware of an insurance policy's existence, let alone its details.
If you have questions related to online insurance frauds, then Piyush Ranjan, chief technology officer, Coverfox Insurance, will answer your queries.
Concerned over rising incidence of mis-selling, the finance ministry has directed heads of public sector banks to put in place strong mechanisms to avoid unethical practices for selling insurance policies to customers. The Department of Financial Services has received complaints that fraudulent and unethical practices are adopted by banks and life insurance companies for procuring policies from the bank customers, a letter addressed to chairpersons and managing directors of public sector banks said. There have been instances where life insurance policies were sold to customers aged above 75 years in Tier II-III cities.
'While many policies say that they will cover mental illnesses, the wordings of a few still have mental illness as a permanent exclusion.' 'After the new IRDAI circular, such exclusions should go away.'
Expanding investigation into allegedly wrongful claims of input tax credit by insurance companies, the tax authorities are probing a section of automobile dealers who have supposedly generated fake invoices without providing any service, which is a punishable offence under goods and services tax (GST) law. The authorities are learnt to have questioned the car dealers to explain the services they provided general insurance companies. The investigators suspect car dealers pitched for insurance schemes that give them commissions in excess of those insurance regulations permit.
General insurance companies are likely to see a surge in demand for health insurance in the coming months due to falling air quality in the country. The health insurance segment has registered a strong growth after the pandemic due to higher awareness. In the first half of financial year 2023-24, the segment grew by 24.4 per cent to Rs 54,713.52 crore from Rs 43,981.54 crore in H1FY23, driving growth of the non-life insurance industry.
Insurance regulator Irdai on Monday said health insurance policies that cover Covid treatment costs will also cover expenses for treating infections due to Omicron. "All health insurance policies issued by all general and health insurance companies that cover treatment costs of Covid-19 also cover the costs of treatment towards Omicron variant of Covid-19 as per terms and conditions of policy contract," the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) said in a release. The regulator has issued the directive to general and health insurers in view of the growing number of cases of the Omicron variant.
The Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India (Irdai), the regulator for insurance companies, is set to allow the insurers to offer wellness programmes along with life insurance policies that can earn reward points for the policyholders. These reward points can be redeemed for getting a discount during renewal. The insurance regulator has circulated draft guidelines to insurance companies for feedback before issuing the final guidelines, as is the norm.
The government has allowed the Enforcement Directorate to share information about economic offenders with 15 more agencies, including SFIO, CCI and NIA, a move that will expedite nailing of law-breakers. The finance ministry notified changes to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, on November 22. Through the notification, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which deals primarily with cases of money laundering and violations of foreign exchange laws, would be able to share data with a total of 25 agencies, including the 10 specified earlier.
'As our per capita income increases and various demographic segments emerge, the need for various kinds of protection and risk covers will become even more explicit.'
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